Lost in Azure
by Kerras
Summary: A story of a few of my characters exploring Atlantis from 7th Dragon III Code VFD


Although the streets of Atlantis were empty and the once shining pillars were now crumbling, there was no denying the air of majesty still radiating through the vacant realm in one last protest before it's imminent demise. The three members of Unit 13 looked at every new sight in awe. This was their third time travelling back from the Nodens portal, and still they remained wide eyed at the serene land of azure. The trio came to a stop in front of a ruined building, with torn blue tapestries desperately hanging on the walls. The poisonous red flower, Dragonsbane, decorated the cracked ground, and the bodies of several citizens lay on the ground. Silence overtook the group, until the green-haired girl finally spoke up.

"They deserved better than this."

The member flanking his two companions, a young man with blazing red hair, held his hands over his heads with a deep sigh. "Man, if only the portal opened to just a few hours earlier… Maybe we could have done something."

The leader of the group, a silver-haired Lucier, pushed a braid behind his pointed ear and shook his head. "No use in playing 'what if'. We need to keep pressing on, and help those still fighting against this shit." He turned around and walked back down the steps they came, his gaze sternly focused on the way ahead.

Though his eyes were hidden by his neon goggles, the redhead's eyebrows shot up. "…Seriously? I mean you're right, but that's a little cold, don't ya think?" The young woman looked between him and the Lucier, shaking her head before jogging after him. After a few minutes of awkward silence, she spoke up again.

"Hey, Kerras… How does it feel, getting to see the homeland of your people?"

"Obviously it doesn't make him feel too much of anything, Famke," the redhead snarked, the young woman shooting him daggers at the comment. The Lucier stopped as they came to a bridge, gazing at the ruined city and the vast ocean surrounding them before shrugging.

"I can't really say. I mean, my parents were a result of the Lucier cloning in 2020… My homeland was Tokyo. That's all I've ever known. This place is beautiful, and I feel… Something between the people here, but it's no different from the victims of Dragonsbane back in our time." He spread his hands out at his side, offering an apologetic smile to the redhead. "I want to save as many people here as we can, same as you Flash, but… In our time, they're already dead. Even if we only can save one soul here, that's still one less that perishes. One life we change the world for. That's how I'm looking at it, anyways."

Flash threw his hands up in the air. "Man, would it kill you to show a little emotion every now and then?! Why, if I-"

The conversation was interrupted by a loud roar, and before anyone could react a large flying fish with jagged fins dove upon them from above. The trio dove in opposite directions, barely avoiding the crash of the large beast onto the ground. Famke was the first to recover, pulling her deck of cards from a pouch at her hip. She whispered a silent prayer and drew a red card-It had the picture of a cloud with flaming eyes on it, and suddenly it materialized from the card into thin air. The cloud lunged forward at the water dragon, fire gushing from its mouth. While the dragon was distracted, the other two had gathered their weapons and joined the battle. Kerras drew his dagger and drew a circle in midair in front of him, and bright sparks materialized around the blade. He plunged his magical blade in the underside of the beast, and it thrashed about in pain. Flash whipped out his pistols, letting out a quick salvo at the exposed underbelly which finished it off. The dragon struggled to raise its great fins, and with its dying breath, rolled itself over towards Flash to try and take one of its opponents down with it into the abyss below. The redhead tried to dive out of the way, but his leg was crushed under the weight of the beast, and fell out of sight as they both tumbled over the side of the bridge.

"Dammit, no! Get back here you bastard!" Famke drew another one of her cards, this time a yellow one with the image of a winged insect on it. The being sprang to life, and she pointed over the side. "See if you can't get a hold of that loudmouth!" The insect silently obeyed, and descended down below. Kerras sprinted forward, diving onto the ledge and peering over the side, yelling for all he could.

"I see them! Your bug grabbed him, he's pulling him up!"

Famke breathed a sigh of relief, folding her arms across her chest. "Hey, that's not just some bug… It's a Lepidoptera, for your information." Kerras looked over his shoulder, grinning.

"What's that? A leopard? No, those are the big yellow cats with spots you see at the zoo…" Their banter was broken by a sudden shout- Just as Flash had been carried nearly back to the platform, the summoned insect lost it's strength, and it vanished in a yellow cloud. Their companion was falling again, and the Lucier stretched out his arm and barely managed to grasp Flash's wrist.

"Bloody hell, man… Are you carrying around bricks in that backpack of yours?" Kerras groaned, using all of his strength to pull the man up. Famke got down and grabbed his other arm, and together they heaved their fallen comrade to solid ground. The three of them lay spread out on the bridge, none of them speaking again as they caught their breath. Once they had all three stood back up, Flash looked over at the others.

"I thought being woken up by Nagamimi was the scariest event of my short life… Yeah, well now that's just the second scariest." Laughter broke out among them, and he pulled off his goggles to look each of them in the face. "Thanks though, everyone. For not abandoning my ass, and everything." Kerras slapped his friend on the back, smirking.

"Yeah, well… We need someone to be the butt of all our jokes, don't we Famke?" The young woman grinned back.

"Obviously. I mean, how can you seriously call yourself 'Flash' and expect not to get a few jokes in your honor?"

The redhead shook his head, smiling wide. "Yeah, yeah… Well if that's what I have to do in return for, you know, not dying… I'll take the bad jokes." After the jokes had died down, Kerras spoke back up.

"I say we call it a day here, and get back to Nodens. We've been gone a while now, and I could use a snack."

The other two nodded and the trio started making their way back to the portal. As they stepped into the green light, Famke grinned mischievously. "You know, I think they're serving fish tacos in the cafeteria tonight…"


End file.
